Gathering the Courage
by Vamplien
Summary: Aria recently discovers she's fallen head over heels for Roy. Now all she has to do is find the courage to tell him. Aria x Roy, officially the first story with them as the pairing.


Okay, so this is officially the ONLY Roy x Aria story. I mean really. The ONLY one. And he's the only one I ever pair her with, which makes me mad that I can't read and gush over fanfics with them in it. I mean, Orland gets all the love and I think he's not cute at all. And I mean, there's even an Aria x Leonel story! And he looks like a friggin girl! Ugh. Why make Roy a boyfriend candidate if no one wants him and Aria to be together?

Anyway, in this story Aria's mother is Alicia because that's who I made Kyle marry this time around. And I figure Roy to be five years older than Aria. I don't know if that's accurate, but it'd how it's going to be in this story, alright? And the age for marraige in Alvarna is sixteen because honestly, there's no way that all the people from the first generation who have children in the second could be much older than that. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rune Factory 2.

* * *

Aria stared into the full-length mirror, relatively satisfied with what she saw.

She was sixteen now, having had her birthday only a week ago. The official age for marraige in Alvarna. She blushed slightly and looked at the floor.

Not that she was thinking of getting married. I mean, she just turned sixteen. She wasn't going to rush into anything.

But...

"Get back on task, Aria!" she scolded herself quietly, snapping her eyes back up at the mirror.

She was five feet and seven inches tall. That was okay, height is good. He was rather tall.

Her skin was rather smooth because she made sure to use lotion after she was done tending the fields. She also had a natural, glowing tan. Good, that was good as well.

A healthy C-cup, slowly getting bigger everyday. She had her mom to thank for that. Alicia had always been rather well-endowed.

Fit and lean, not overly muscular but all around a good figure.

Her hair had gotten longer, now down to the small of her back. She usually kept it up in a ponytail, cause she always got too hot with it down. It was a pretty chestnut like her father's, her eyes only a slight shade darker.

She was pretty, right? Her mom always said so.

"Then why," she asked out loud, "doesn't he pay attention to me?"

Maybe it was because he had known her since she was a child. He'd seen her grow up from tiny short-haired Aria into what she was now.

Or maybe it was because he liked someone else.

Roy.

Yes, Roy was the object of her obsession, the reason she was currently checking herself out in the mirror.

She doesn't remember exactly when it started, but she couldn't get the playful, blue-eyed stud out of her mind.

Yes, he was a stud alright. Alot had changed since she was seven. He had grown up as well. He was now about six foot, muscular, and much more... manly.

"And twenty-one," a voice said in her head.

Yeah. That.

He was a man, and she was by all means a teenager. The right age for marraige, but still a teenager.

"Aria!" Aaron called from downstairs, "Get down here! It's time for school!"

"Be down in a minute!" she shouted, then sighed heavily. Time for class.

* * *

Aria hunched forward at her desk, tapping it listlessly with her fingers. She'd never really been fond of cooking. Was that what was wrong with her? Was she not feminine enough for him?

Well she could change that. She could start paying attention to Mana, she could learn how to be a great cook like Leann. She could make him all types of things, and then he'd smile at her gently and tell her how great her cookies were and how he wanted more and wanted her and...

"Aria? Are you paying attention? Aria!"

She was yanked back to the present by Mana herself, the person she just vowed she was going to pay attention to.

"Huhwha-?" she said, dazed. Then she lost her balance and-

She was down. Yes, she had in fact just fallen out of her seat and onto her ass. Right smack dab in the middle of class.

Hah, that rhymed.

Someone chuckled behind her, and Aria turned purple with embarassment.

Please no.

Please, just no. Don't let it be him.

Spare me.

Please.

"Need some help, Aria?" the deep voice said, chuckling again.

Damn.

"No, no I'm fine," Aria replied nervously, getting up and quickly brushing the dust off of herself.

She turned around to face him, and stared at the playful grin on his face.

He seriously has the most wonderful smile.

"Aria," Mana snapped, annoyed. "Could you please have a seat? We're switching off now, and I know you will be able to pay attention to his class, won't you?"

She turned a deeper shade of purple and meekly slid back into her seat.

Ever since Dorothy started popping out babies like nobody's business, Barrett had had to resign from his teaching position. Roy had taken his place, since his mother's shop was in Jake's capable hands.

Roy casually loped over to the desk and plopped down in his seat. He smiled and leaned back, clasping his hands together and putting them behind his head.

"Let's get started shall we?" he said, his eyes twinkling.

Yeah, she had no problem paying attention to HIS classes.

* * *

Aria quickly strode out of the school, heading towards her house.

"Hey Aria, wait up will you?" Roy exclaimed, rushing up to her.

She stopped dead and turned around reluctantly. "Roy," she said, her lips slightly curving upward in a weak smile.

He smiled a giant, gleaming grin in response. "So what's up? You were kind of out of it in Mana's class today. But then again that's kind of a usual thing for you, isn't it?" he teased, still grinning.

"Hah. Kind of is, isn't it?" she replied blushing and staring at her feet. He was quiet then, and she looked up in confusion. His smile was gone and he had a worried look in his eyes.

"You haven't been avoiding me, have you?" he questioned, stepping closer to her.

"Of course not!" she replied vehemently, her eyes widening. But in truth, she had been. She didn't know what else to do when everytime she talked to him she couldn't stop blushing, couldn't stop thinking about her feelings for him. It was exhausting really, trying to pretend everything was normal when it wasn't.

She could see he wasn't convinced either. "You have," he said, looking hurt, "did I do something wrong? Tell me so I can fix it."

She sighed, upset that she had made him unhappy. "You didn't do anything wrong Roy. It's just... well I... can we sit down please?" she replied nervously, gesturing to a bench.

They both walked over to it and sat down, Roy looking at her expectantly.

She cleared her throat. "Well uh, like I said, you haven't done anything wrong. Quite the opposite really. I mean well... uh, well I don't really know what I mean actually," she babbled, turning a brighter shade of red every second.

He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees, still looking at her. She stared back, unable to tell him what she desperately wanted to say. Tears pricked at her eyes.

"It doesn't matter, Roy, really! You don't have t-to... you don't have to worry about me," she said, tears starting to roll down her cheeks as she stood up.

"Aria-" he started, looking startled.

"Just forget it!" she said tearily, and ran toward her house.

* * *

"Idiot, idiot, idiot," she said, bashing her head on her pillow for every word.

Why had she overreacted like that? Why did she start crying, when all he did was show he was concerned about her? Why was she such an oversensitive spaz?

And now she was laying face down on her bed, abusing her pillow with her face.

Her mom walked in, carrying a plate of cookies. "Hey sweetie!" Alicia chirped, placing the cookies down on Aria's bedside table and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Anything you want to talk about?" she questioned, looking unsually serious. Aria sighed, sitting up and taking a cookie from the plate.

"I swore to myself I'd never do this," Aria murmured to herself. She then looked up at her mother determinedly. "I want to know my love fortune," she said, restraining the urge to twiddle her thumbs and look down at her bedspread.

Alicia's eyes widened. "Darling," she said slowly, "you've always thought my fortunes were bogus. Why start believing now?"

And she couldn't resist the urge. She twiddle her thumbs and stared down at her bedspread, tears once more pricking at the corner of her eyes.

"I need to know I'm not going to be an old maid, and that I didn't just ruin my chances with the man I love," she replied miserably, taking a huge bite out of the cookie in her hand.

Her mother smiled at her. "I'm not going to lie to you. You know it, and I know it. My predictions are just guesses, the love ones atleast. But I can give you a little bit of motherly advice. Roy'll come to his senses and if he doesn't, and I know this a huge cliche and way overused, but he doesn't deserve you."

"How do you know?" Aria whispered, a seed of hope daring to plant itself in her heart.

Alicia's smile widened, and her confident look once again covered her face. "I predicted it of course! And my predictions are never wrong! Now eat the cookies, I spent forever making those damn wretched things."

* * *

Alright.

Here we go.

All you have to do is knock on the door.

Just knock.

That's all.

And hope and pray he doesn't answer and you can procrastinate another day.

Aria shook her head, trying to shake away her nervousness.

She raised her hand and... the door opened.

She flailed back in surprise, squeaking rather loudly.

Roy stood at the door, stunned.

"Ah, Roy!" she exclaimed, trying to calm her heartbeat. "I was uh, just about to knock on the door, but you uh, already knew that didn't you?"

She smiled awkwardly, clasping her hands behind her back. Then she deflated.

"This is going all wrong already," she murmured to herself. She looked up at him, trying to look more confident then she actually was.

"Aria," he said, his mouth twisting up into his trademark grin. But it was different this time. Softer, maybe. More gentle. His eyes sought hers out, trying to make her look up at him.

"Can I come in?" she asked, pinching herself in order to stop from running away. He nodded his assent and she followed him into the shop.

"My mom's out drinking with Douglas, Natalie, and Gordon, and Jake's home with Ceci and Orland," he explained as her eyes scanned the room. "Wanna go upstairs? I'll get you a drink or something. What do you want?"

"Water would be fine, thank you," she replied, heading up the stairs. Her heart thumped in her chest, so loud that she figured he'd probably heard it.

She sat down on the couch, trying to figure out what she was going to say. Not that she hadn't tried to plan it before, but even if she had known the right way to confess to a guy you're in love with them it would probably escape her at the crucial moment.

Roy came upstairs, holding two waters. He plopped them down on the table and sat down next to Aria.

"So would this be about when you ran away from me yesterday," he questioned, his smile light but his eyes troubled.

She blushed. "Yeah, that. I just wanted to say... well I..." It was happening again. Speechlessness is a bitch.

"I actually have something I wanted to say to you," Roy started, taking a small sip of water and tugging nervously at his shirt collar.

She looked up at him, confused. Was he going to tell her he knew? Oh no, he knew. And he was going to reject her because he'd suddenly discovered that he had fallen madly in love with Cammie because she was feminine and knew how to cook and his age and...

Woah, slow down brain. Listen to what he has to say.

"I don't really know how to put this either," he continued, scratching his arm. "I haven't had much practice in this, so I'm kind of at a loss for what to do. But I'm hoping that maybe I might know the reason you've been avoiding me lately."

She gasped slightly, her blush flaring up once more. He did know, and now he was thinking of a polite way to turn her down. She couldn't look him in the eye. She blinked surprisedly as he took her by the chin and gently made her face him.

"I'm hoping it's because you like me and you don't know how to tell me. I'm hoping that's what you've been trying to do, that day after school and now. And I want to tell you now, before you run away, that I like you Aria. I like you alot."

He smiled at her gently, slightly caressing her cheek with his other hand.

"And I know that I'm well," he said sheepishly, still stroking her cheek, "kind of old, I guess. Everyone figured I'd end up with Cammie, but I've never know her as more than a friend. And then you came along."

He smiled softly. "I've loved you in so many ways. First, you were like a little sister to me. But then you started growing, and then I became your friend. I'd always admired you from afar at first though. How you dealt with your father's dissapearance, how you fought to hard to bring him back. Now you're sixteen. And you're one of the most beautiful sights I've ever laid my eyes on. You've grown up into a lovely young woman, and while I probably don't deserve you, that doesn't stop me from loving you."

She smiled back, her eyes lighting up with joy. And then she was so happy she couldn't contain it.

So she did what she thought she'd never have the guts to do.

She jumped in his lap, put her arms around his neck and started kissing him like there was no tomorrow. And he sure was glad she'd gathered up the courage.

* * *

This actually took me some time, unlike my other fics. Sadly, I should've done it in a more looked at category, but what can you do? Some of my most romantic stories I think of contain this pairing. It just speaks to me, and the fact that it doesn't do it for anyone else isn't going to stop me from loving this pairing to bits. R & R please, criticism greatly appreciated.


End file.
